Collected from scattered ruins, ancient songs, salvaged star-charts, and the teachings of Selvine.

The Jirdunians are believed to have been an ancient race of dark-skinned elves who once dominated vast regions of Wildspace long before the rise of modern empires. Nearly every known culture possesses at least fragments of stories about them, though the details often conflict.

What follows is considered the most widely accepted understanding among scholars, navigators, and those who study lost civilizations.

The Jirdunians are said to have ruled a great stellar dominion thousands of years ago. Their influence extended across many crystal spheres, connected by stable routes through the Flow and hidden passages that modern spelljammers only dimly understand.

Ancient records describe their vessels as impossibly graceful ships of black crystal, silver wood, and living metal. Many legends claim their helms were powered not merely by magic, but by thought itself.

Unlike many modern powers, the Jirdunians did not appear to rule through open conquest alone. Worlds under their influence often prospered, though always beneath the shadow of Jirdunian authority.

The Jirdunians are consistently associated with advanced psionic ability. Some historians believe nearly all Jirdunians possessed some degree of telepathy or mental discipline.

Recovered artifacts suggest they blended magic, psionics, and strange sciences into a single unified practice. Modern spellcasters frequently cannot determine where one art ended and another began.

Among the abilities most often attributed to them are:

• Telepathic communication across great distances
• Memory crystals capable of storing thoughts and personalities
• Living constructs and semi-sentient ships
• Gates capable of piercing space and planar boundaries
• Weapons designed to disrupt the mind or soul directly

Descriptions of the Jirdunians vary, but most accounts agree on several features:

• Dark bronze, obsidian, or deep violet skin
• Pale or silver eyes
• White, silver, or midnight-blue hair
• Tall, slender physiques typical of elves

Some believe the Jirdunians may instead represent an ancient and entirely separate elven lineage that vanished before recorded history.

No one knows what happened to the Jirdunians.

Their empire appears to have collapsed rapidly and almost simultaneously across multiple spheres. Ruins are often found abandoned rather than destroyed, as if their inhabitants simply vanished.

Theories include:

• A catastrophic war against an unknown enemy
• A psionic calamity that consumed their civilization
• Mass ascension to another plane of existence
• Civil war between rival houses or philosophies
• Destruction caused by experimentation with planar forces
• Enslavement or extermination by entities from beyond Wildspace

Most educated people dismiss such claims as superstition.

True Jirdunian artifacts are extraordinarily rare and highly sought after. Even damaged relics often display abilities beyond modern craftsmanship.

Common traits associated with Jirdunian ruins and relics include:

• Smooth black stone that never erodes
• Crystal formations that respond to touch or thought
• Symbols resembling flowing geometric script
• Doors or mechanisms activated mentally rather than physically
• Strange lingering psychic impressions

Among scholars, the Jirdunians are regarded with a mixture of fascination and caution. They are often compared to lost mythic civilizations such as Netheril or the ancient Suel, though on a far greater scale.

Among spelljammers, however, a more practical saying persists:

“Dead gods drift. Jirdunian things wait.”

Most crews consider unexplored Jirdunian ruins dangerous regardless of their apparent condition. Entire expeditions have vanished while searching for their secrets.

And yet, despite the risks, the promise of lost Jirdunian knowledge continues to lure explorers deeper into the dark between the stars.

Long before the current age of spelljamming, before even the oldest charts of the spheres were first etched, the Jirdunians ruled the Phlogiston.

Their empire did not span worlds.

It spanned the flow itself.

• The Jirdunians were an ancient offshoot of elvenkind, though more severe in form and bearing.
• Their features were sharp, almost sculpted—beauty refined into something cold and deliberate.
• They valued order, hierarchy, and control above all things.

• They did not revere nature.
• They sought to master environments, especially the chaotic Phlogiston.

At the height of their power, the Jirdunians were ruled by a single figure:

The Emperor of the Flow

• Absolute ruler of all Jirdunian domains
• Said to possess both immense magical power and perfect administrative control
• His will was enforced through a rigid hierarchy of governors, enforcers, and arcane overseers

• Lawful to an extreme
• Structured in absolute tiers of authority
• Efficient… and utterly merciless

The greatest achievement of the Jirdunians was not conquest of worlds—but of the Phlogiston itself.

They:

• Charted stable currents where none were believed to exist
• Created anchored routes between spheres
• Built permanent structures within the Flow—once thought impossible

• Arcane engineering
• Environmental control
• Reality manipulation

The Engine of a Thousand Wings is widely believed to be one of the last—and greatest—Jirdunian creations.

What It Was

Not a single machine, but a vast arcane complex:

• Part shipyard
• Part experimental engine
• Part dimensional anchor

1. Ship Creation & Enhancement

• Jirdunians constructed advanced spelljamming vessels here
• Ships built within the Engine could:
• Travel faster through the Flow
• Resist its dangers
• Possibly ignore certain natural laws

• The Engine could stabilize sections of the Flow
• Create temporary “safe zones”
• Alter currents—or even generate new ones

• The Jirdunians used it to test:
• Hybrid magic systems (white/dark/unknown)
• Living constructs
• Environmental transformations

Scholars debate the name:

• “Wings” may refer to:
• Docking arms for ships
• Energy projections that resemble wings
• Or paths through the Flow themselves

The Engine could open “a thousand paths where none existed.”

The keys (Amber, Brass, Iron, Bronze, etc.) are believed to be:

• Access regulators to Jirdunian systems
• Each tied to:
• Specific functions
• Restricted zones
• Control hierarchies

It is strongly suspected that:

• The Brass Key grants access to core control systems of the Engine
• Without it:
• Certain sections remain sealed
• Some mechanisms remain dormant
• Others may behave unpredictably

Power was never unguarded. Access was always earned—or enforced.

No one knows exactly what happened.

But theories include:

• Catastrophic Engine failure
• Internal rebellion against the Emperor
• A magical experiment that went too far
• Or something worse…

They simply… left the Flow.

With Jirdunian Lore:

• They were ancient, lawful evil elves
• Ruled by a single emperor across the Phlogiston
• Built structures that should not exist in the Flow
• Created the Engine of a Thousand Wings
• Used keys to control access to their technology

• Their magic merged engineering and domination
• The Engine is likely still partially active
• The keys may be necessary to safely explore it
• Some systems may still recognize authority… or trespass

KC walks beside Lysa through the winding streets of Middenheim, letting her take the lead more often than not. When it comes to finding knowledge, he knows better than to rely solely on what’s written in open libraries.

“Both kinds,” he says quietly as they move. “Respectable and otherwise.”

He glances at her.

“Books, records, private collections… anything that might touch on the Jirdunians. Language, history, philosophy—especially anything tied to the Phlogiston.”

A brief pause.

“And anything that mentions large constructs, ancient engines, or… anomalies in the Flow.”

Over the course of the next couple of days, Lysa guides KC through a mix of sources:

• A respectable scribe’s shop with dusty but legitimate historical records
• A language dealer who specializes in obscure dialects and dead tongues
• A quiet backroom collector who trades in partial texts and salvaged spelljamming logs
• And finally, a more discreet contact who deals in… less officially acquired materials

Carefully.

Methodically.

Despite the effort—and Lysa’s solid connections—the results are… limited.

Still, not entirely without value.

📜 On the Jirdunians

• They are consistently described as an ancient elven offshoot, separate from modern elven lineages
• Multiple fragmented sources agree they once held significant power within the Phlogiston, though the extent is unclear
• A recurring theme describes them as:
• Highly structured
• Deeply hierarchical
• And likely lawful, but harsh in governance

“Keepers of Order within the Chaos Between Worlds.”

• KC confirms that the Jirdunian language materials he already possesses are among the most complete available
• Additional sources provide only:
• Minor variations in symbols
• A few alternative translations of key terms
• One repeated word appears across multiple fragments:

A particularly obscure fragment—likely copied from a much older source—offers a small but intriguing insight:

• The Jirdunians may have believed the Phlogiston was not merely chaotic, but:

This suggests they saw the Flow not as something to navigate…

…but something to impose order upon.

KC finds only the faintest hints here:

• One salvaged navigator’s log mentions:

• Another fragment refers to:

No direct mention of the Engine of a Thousand Wings appears in any of the material.

• No confirmed locations tied to Jirdunian ruins
• No clear records of surviving structures
• No detailed accounts of their downfall
• And nothing directly linking them to any known modern spelljamming routes

After several days of searching, KC closes the final text with a quiet exhale.

The knowledge is frustratingly incomplete.

But a pattern is clear:

• The Jirdunians were not explorers…

And whatever they built in the Phlogiston…

…it was meant to control it.

Lysa leans against the wall nearby, watching him finish.

“Told you,” she says with a small shrug. “Old secrets like that don’t sit on open shelves.”

She tilts her head slightly.

“But you did pull something out of it.”

A faint grin.

“Which is more than most manage.”

She pushes off the wall.

“So,” she asks, “worth the time?”